Fr. WB on a Holy Lent
... from my fiance's Whitehall:
Lent is instituted in the Church that we may “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3.18). Contrary to superficial appearance, Lent is therefore not a sorrowful time. It is a time of Joy.
The word “Lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for Springtime. The season of Lent is a time, while beginning with the darkness and rain of penitence and self-denial, yet ending with the full flowering of Easter morning. It is important to remember, therefore, the Joy of what George Herbert called the “feast of Lent,” because it is a time of spiritual joy. It is an opportunity to engage with the enemy, to subdue him in those things which keep us from the grace of God.
It is one of those reversals typical of our religion: the outward fast is an inward feast; the outward continence is inward and ecstatic engagement with the Bridegroom...
posted by MM at 11:11 AM
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